W 7U  ! 

~~\3  wi  • ^ 

THE  CHURCH 

AWAKENED  TO 

HER  DUTY  AND  HER  DANGER: 


A SERMON  PREACHED  FOR  THE 


inuirii  of  foreign 


nr 


Ulli 


OF 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CIIURCII, 


ON  SABBATH  EVENING,  MAY  1,  1853,  IN  THE  CHl'RCH  ON  FIFTH  AVENUE  AND  NINETEENTH 
STREET,  NEW  YORK  ; AND  ALSO  IN  THE  CENTRAL  CHl'RCH,  PHILADELPHIA. 

ON  SABBATH  EVENING,  SLAY  22,  1S53. 


BY  THE  REV.  THOMAS  SMYTH,  D.D., 

PASTOR  OF  THE  SECOND  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH, 

CHARLESTON,  S.  C. 


NEW  YORK: 

MISSION  HOUSE,  23  CENTRE  STREET. 


MDCCCLIII. 


EDWARD  0.  JENKINS,  PRINTER, 

114  Nassau  Street. 


SERMON 


“For  whosoever  shall  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved,”  &c. — Rom.  x.  13-15. 

On  the  subject  of  Foreign  Missions — that  is,  the  sending  and 
supporting  preachers  of  the  Gospel  in  all  the  world,  according  to 
the  command  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ — it  is  impos- 
sible to  say  anything  new.  Novelty  can  no  longer  attract  the 
eager  attention  of  an  awakened  curiosity.  The  terra  incognita 
of  heathendom  has  been  explored.  The  era  of  peril  and  adven- 
ture has,  to  a great  extent,  passed  away.  The  teeming  multitudes 
of  pagans,  once  so  partially  known  to  us,  have  now  swelled  into 
six  hundred  and  fifty  millions,  rushing,  like  the  foaming  waters 
of  Niagara,  over  the  precipice  of  death,  into  the  fearful  gulf  of  a 
dark  and  dreadful  eternity.  By  the  vivid  light  thrown  upon  them 
we  have  been  enabled  as  it  were  to  look  out  from  our  calm  and 
quiet  home  upon  each  particular  man  and  woman  in  that  vast 
torrent — to  see  them,  in  their  various  forms  of  misery,  rolling  on 
from  crag  to  crag  in  those  fearful  rapids — and  to  hear  them,  amid 
their  diversities  of  vernacular  tongues,  all  sinking  with  one  and 
the  same  articulate  language  of  despair.  Nay,  so  full  and  accu- 
rate have  been  the  observations  made,  that  we  can  tell  the  num- 
ber who  every  day  and  hour,  and  even  moment,  are  thus  passing 
beyond  the  reach  of  human  help  or  hope. 

Now,  it  is  a principle  of  our  nature  that  thoughts  and  impres- 
sions lose  their  power  to  influence  and  control  us  the  more  fre- 
quently they  pass  through  our  minds.  Thus,  constant  exposure 
to  danger  lessens  fear,  and  the  frequent  observation  of  misery  and 
death  deadens  our  sense  of  pity  and  alarm.  And  thus,  also,  it  is 
that  the  spectacle  of  millions  of  human  beings  sitting  “in  the 


4 


region  and  shadow  of  death,*’  “ without  God  and  without  hope 
in  the  world,”  having  lost  its  novelty,  ceases  to  attract  attention 
or  to  enkindle  sympathy. 

Our  nature,  however,  cannot  be  totally  destroyed.  Even  when 
“ seared  as  with  a hot  iron,”  the  essential  principles  of  our  moral 
constitution  cannot  be  altogether  paralyzed.  Truth,  which  is  in 
its  own  nature  solemn  and  convincing,  cannot  but  lead  to  an  ap- 
preciation correspondent  to  its  magnitude  and  importance.  Let 
that  truth — as,  for  instance,  the  certainty  of  death — be  one  in 
which  our  own  interests  are  vitally  at  stake — one  which  brings 
with  it  a conviction  of  duty,  a sense  of  accountability  to  God, 
and  which  thus  involves  our  everlasting  destiny,  and  let  it  be 
brought  home  by  some  present  and  affecting  demonstration  of  its 
approach  to  ourselves  or  to  those  dear  to  us,  and  in  spite  of  all  our 
general  indifference  and  unconcern,  we  are  overwhelmed  with 
absorbing  emotions  of  sorrow  and  distress,  hope  and  fear.  And 
when  any  man,  however  impenitent  and  hardened,  allows  him- 
self, or  is,  by  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  made  to  look  forward 
to  that  judgment  which  is  after  death,  and  to  realize  that  every 
man  must  render  an  account  of  himself  unto  God,”  he 
cannot  but  be  filled  with  a “ certain  fearful  looking  for  of  judg- 
ment and  of  fiery  indignation.” 

From  such  truths  the  mind  may  be  averted  through  unbelief ; 
but,  come  when  they  will,  and  by  what  means  they  may,  before 
the  contemplation  of  the  mind,  they  must  arouse  its  deepest  con- 
sideration and  its  most  anxious  concern.  The  appeal  is  made 
not  only  to  our  understanding,  but  also  to  our  conscience.  By 
the  former  we  arc  convinced  and  convicted  ; by  the  latter  we 
are  condemned,  sentenced,  and  held  amenable  to  a righteous 
retribution.  Oh,  yes,  conscience  is  the  mightiest  principle  in 
our  nature  ! There  is  no  other  such  terrible  word  as  remorse,  and 
no  other  such  miserable  object  in  the  universe  as  a self-tormented 
soul,  lashed  by  the  furies  of  its  own  inexorable  self-condemnings. 

Now,  conscience  is  immortal  and  indestructible.  It  never  dies. 
It  sleeps,  indeed,  in  fitful  slumbers;  but  it  is  only  that,  when 
aroused  by  the  midnight  cry  of  danger,  it  may  awake  as  a strong 
man  armed  and  made  fierce  with  impetuous  passion.  The 
power  of  truth,  involving  duty,  to  affect  the  mind  at  every 
believing  contemplation  of  it,  is  still  greater  when  the  authority 


5 


which  enforces  it  is  indubitable — when  the  rule  which  prescribes 
it  is  plain — and  when  the  eye  of  the  lawgiver  is  witness  to  our 
conduct.  And  when  to  this  necessity  for  obedience  there  is  added 
the  evidence  of  success  consequent  upon  our  efforts,  the  assurance 
of  giving  satisfaction,  and  of  obtaining  the  recompense  of  reward, 
then,  as  in  the  case  of  the  diligent  scholar,  the  industrious 
husbandman,  and  of  man  in  every  other  calling  of  life,  truth  be- 
comes mighty,  and  prevails  over  all  the  natural  tendency  of  our 
hearts  to  lose  the  impression  of  familiar  and  well-known  truth. 

And  here,  as  everywhere,  wo  see  the  goodness  of  our  all-wise 
Creator,  in  that  those  active  habits  which  mould  the  character, 
give  principle  to  duty,  power  to  effort,  and  perseverance  and  suc- 
cess to  enterprise,  may  be  gradually  formed  and  strengthened, 
even  while  the  thoughts  and  feelings  first  inducing  us  to  act  be- 
come weak  and  powerless.  By  acting  in  conformity  with  such 
motives,  when  awakened  within  us  by  some  stirring  appeal,  our 
habits  of  active  and  willing  discharge  of  duty  will  strengthen 
even  while  the  incitements  to  it  are  less  and  less  sensibly  felt. 
The  mere  temporary  pity  for  others,  or  alarm  for  our  own  neglect, 
will  thus  become  a principle,  “ wrought  somehow  into  the  tem- 
per and  character,”  and  made  constantly  effective  in  influencing 
our  nature. 

In  this  way  the  noblest  traits  of  humanity  are  developed  and 
made  characteristic.  The  child  of  fear  becomes  bold  and  in- 
trepid. The  indolent  becomes  industrious,  the  selfish  disinter- 
ested, the  churl  liberal,  while  the  man  who  can  meet  death  with- 
out fear  in  the  discharge  of  duty,  lives  in  the  most  watchful  pre- 
paration for  his  latter  end.  And  thus  also  is  it  that  the  man  who 
under  the  excitement  of  compassion  for  the  perishing,  whether  at 
home  or  abroad,  is  led  habitually  to  do  what  in  him  lies  for  their 
relief,  while  his  heart  is  less  and  less  sensibly  affected  by  the 
contemplation  of  their  misery;  nevertheless,  “ benevolence,  con- 
sidered not  as  a passion  but  as  a principle ,”  will  strengthen,  so 
that  whilst  he  feels  and  pities  less,  he  prays  and  gives  and  does 
good  all  the  more.*  God  has  thus  secured  for  duty  the 
power,  protection,  and  ever  sustaining  life  of  principle.  He 
has  not  left  it  to  the  mere  fitful  and  evanescent  excite- 
ment of  sympathy  and  compassion — a feeling  which  requires 


See  Butler’s  Analogy,  Part  I.,  Chap.  Y. 


6 


direction  and  control — which  is  fluctuating  and  uncertain — 
which  is  misled  by  fancy — disgusted  by  sober  realities — 
wearied  by  disappointment — extinguished  by  ingratitude — 
and  which  by  its  own  temporary  impulse  soon  dies  away. 
Principle,  however,  is  based  on  consideration,  truth  and  duty, 
and  is  therefore  as  constant  and  potent  as  the  truth  on  which  it 
is  founded,  the  authority  to  which  it  defers,  and  the  obligation 
by  which  it  is  impelled. 

We  are  thus  led  to  perceive  also  the  wisdom  and  goodness  of 
G-od,  in  so  constituting  our  nature,  that  while  easily  aroused  to 
duty  by  the  impulse  of  natural  affection,  that  duty  may  become 
delight  by  the  very  habit  of  discharging  it ; and,  still  further,  in 
that,  in  order  to  keep  our  minds  and  hearts  continually  alive  to  a 
sense  of  our  obligations,  He  has  instituted  the  ministry  of  the 
Gospel.  It  is  in  God’s  stead  we  preach,  beseech  and  persuade 
men.  It  is  in  His  name  and  by  His  authority  we  commend 
truth  and  duty  to  every  man’s  conscience  in  the  sight  of  God.  It 
is  God’s  word  which  is  put  into  our  hands  as  a hammer  to 
break  into  pieces  every  flinty  rock, — as  a fire  to  melt  the  most 
hard  and  obdurate, — as  the  rain  that  cometh  down  on  the  mown 
grass  to  refresh  and  fertilize  the  thirsty  soul — and  as  the  still 
small  voice  to  the  ear  of  anxious  love  solicitous  to  hear,  or  to  him 
that  goeth  softly  because  of  his  inward  sorrow. 

Thus  it  is  that  God  givcth  us  line  upon  line  and  precept  upon 
precept,  here  a little  and  there  a little — holding  forth  to  us  the 
glass  of  duty — writing  conviction  upon  our  hearts, — deepening 
impressions  when  they  have  become  faint  or  obliterated, — alarm- 
ing the  careless — arousing  the  slumbering — and  stimulating  to 
continued  and  unceasing  efforts  the  diligent  and  devoted.  By 
precept;  by  promises;  by  encouragement ; by  warning;  by  hope 
and  fear ; by  the  assurance  of  success  and  deliverance  from  all 
difficulties;  by  the  wisdom  drawn  from  past  failures  ; and  bold- 
ness derived  from  past  victories  ; we  are  kept  steadfast,  immova- 
ble, and  always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord. 

It  is  on  these  grounds,  my  brethren,  we  base  the  importance  of 
such  discourses  as  the  present,  and  on  which  we  have  hope  in  ad- 
dressing you  on  this  occasion. 

The  truth  about  which  we  now  preach  is  the  glorious  Gospel  of 
the  blessed  God  ; that  truth  which  makes  known  the  only  way 


7 


in  which  guilty  man  can  bo  recovered  from  his  apostasy,  replaced 
in  the  favor  of  God,  and  secured  in  what  is  most  precious  to  im- 
mortal creatures, — a complete  and  never-ending  ielicity. 

This  Gospel  is  a talent  with  which  we  are  put  in  trust.  “ Unto 
us  is  committed  the  oracles  of  God  the  promises  and  provisions 
of  salvation  ; the  balm  of  souls  all  o’er  diseased  ; the  only  anti- 
dote to  the  sting  of  death  ; and  the  only  source  of  everlasting 
life. 

As  such,  the  Gospel  is  the  gift  of  God  and  the  manifestation  of 
the  inconceivable  love  of  God  to  all  mankind.  By  the  everlast- 
ing purpose  and  decree  of  God,  the  heathen  are  given  to  Christ 
and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  His  possession.  The 
provisions  of  the  covenant  of  grace  are  for  all  the  apostate  race 
of  Adam.  The  propitiation  made  by  Christ  is  “for  the  sins  of 
the  whole  world.”  The  promises  of  God,  from  the  beginning, 
have  included  the  whole  family  of  man.  Prophecy  foretells  the 
universal  ofTer  and  triumph  of  the  Gospel.  Christ  is  “ the  Sav- 
iour of  all  men.”  The  Holy  Spirit  is  given  to  “convince  the 
world.”  God  now  commandeth  all  men  every  where  to  believe 
the  Gospel.  This  Gospel  is  to  be  preached  to  every  creature  in  all 
the  world.  And  it  is  the  power  of  God  to  the  salvation  of  every 
one  that  believeth,  whether  Jew  or  Gentile. 

The  universal  diffusion  and  triumph  of  the  Gospel  is  therefore 
a fixed  fact.  Heaven  and  earth  may  pass  away,  but  one  jot  or 
tittle  of  all  that  God  has  said  concerning  it  shall  not  pass  away 
until  all  be  fulfilled.  Prayer  to  God  that  “ his  way  may  be 
known  upon  earth  and  his  saving  health  among  all  nations”  was 
a part  of  the  constant  prayers  of  God’s  Church  under  the  former 
economy,  and  is  made  equally  necessary  now,  both  by  the  peti- 
tions embodied  in  the  Lord’s  Prayer,  and  by  the  injunction  given 
by  Christ  to  “ pray  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  that  He  would  send 
forth  more  laborers  into  the  harvest.” 

The  Church,  composed  of  every  believing  soul,  is  constituted 
the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth,  to  preserve,  perpetuate  and 
propagate  it.  She  is  the  “ Angel”  or  messenger  of  Christ,  “ hav- 
ing the  everlasting  gospel  to  preach  unto  them  that  dwell  on  the 
earth,  and  to  every  nation,  and  kindred,  and  tongue,  and  peo- 
ple.” 

The  promise  given  by  Christ  to  the  Church  of  his  abiding  pre- 


8 


sence  and  blessing,  is  made  to  depend  upon  her  obedience  to  this 
divine  commission.  “ Behold,”  therefore,  says  our  Saviour  on 
another  occasion,  “ I send  the  promise  of  my  Father  upon  you  : 
but  tarry  ye  in  the  city  of  Jerusalem  until  ye  be  endued  with 
power  from  on  high.”  “But  ye  shall  receive  power,  after 
that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  come  upon  you,  and  ye  shall  be  witnesses 
untome  both  in  Jerusalem,  and  in  all  Judea,  and  in  Samaria, 
and  unto  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth.” 

The  Church  is  therefore  the  trustee  of  the  Gospel.  To  her  as  a 
Steward  are  committed  the  oracles  and  ,the  ordinances  of  God, 
for  the  benefit  of  the  world.  No  angel  appears,  as  once  to  the 
Virgin  Mary,  to  make  known  the  Savior.  No  star  is  seen  to  guide 
the  wise  men  of  the  East  to  the  manger  of  Bethlehem.  All  is 
concentrated  in  the  Church.  To  her  alone  the  privilege  is  grant- 
ed. On  her  alone  the  responsibility  rests  to  preach  among  the 
Gentiles,  as  well  as  Jews,  “the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ.” 

We  arc  therefore  “debtors.”  “We  are  debtors  both  to  the 
Greeks,  and  to  the  Barbarians;  both  to  the  wise,  and  to  the  un- 
wise.” We  owe  to  every  unevangelized  human  being  that  Gos- 
pel, which  is  “the  true  riches,  the  pearl  of  great  price.”  Jt  is 
only  given  to  us  in  trust.  Neither  we,  nor  it,  are  our  own. 

Woe  therefore  is  unto  that  Church  and  unto  that  member  of 
the  Church,  who  does  not,  directly  or  indirectly,  by  prayer,  by  in- 
fluence, by  liberal  help,  by  co-operation,  by  advice,  by  conse- 
crating his  children,  and  bringing  them  up  for  God, — woe  unto 
him  who  does  not,  as  he  has  opportunity  and  ability,  “ preach  the 
Gospel  to  every  creature.”  Yes,  Christian,  you  are  a light,  but  if 
that  light  is  hid  under  a bushel  and  not  set  on  high,  so  as  to  give 
light  to  all,  what  is  it  good  for?  Yes,  Christian,  you  are  as  leav- 
en, but  if  that  leaven  isconfmed  to  your  own  heart,  to  your  own 
family,  to  your  own  church,  to  your  own  country,  instead  of 
leavening  the  whole  mass  of  humanity,  what  is  it  good  for  ? Yes, 
Christ  ian,  you  are  salt,  but  if  the  salt  has  lost  the  power  to  savor, 
purify  and  preserve,  what  is  it  good  for?  Ah!  says  Christ,  that 
professing  Christian  who  liveth  unto  himself — who  seeks  his  own 
things  and  not  the  things  that  are  Christ’s,  is  none  of  His. 

The  command  of  Christ  is  the  command  of  a living,  loving, 
divine,  and  all-powerful  Redeemer.  It  is  as  extensive  as  the 
earth,  as  enduring  as  time,  and  as  comprehensive  as  the  pro- 


9 


mise  of  the  love  and  presence  of  Christ,  and  of  his  Spirit,  with 
which  it  is  accompanied.  It  is  as  much  in  force  at  this  moment, 
as  when  it  was  first  delivered;  and  it  will  come  home  to  every 
believing  heart  as  fresh  and  powerful  as  when  it  first  proceeded 
from  the  Saviour’s  lips. 

But  to  this  commission  the  divine  head  of  the  Church  added 
another  most  solemn  and  authoritative  command.  For  when 
after  his  resurrection  he  appeared  personally  to  the  Apostle  Paul, 
his  words  to  him,  and  through  him  to  the  Church,  were  these : 
“ I send  thee”  unto  the  Gentiles,  “ to  open  their  eyes  and  to  turn 
them  from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto 
God,  that  they  may  receive  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  inheritance 
among  them  which  are  sanctified  by  faith  that  is  in  me.” 

Acting  upon  the  divine  commission  thus  emphatically  renewed, 
the  triumphs  of  the  Gospel  were  soon  extended  to  the  utmost 
limits  of  the  Roman  empire,  and  even  into  countries  which 
Rome's  victorious  legions  had  never  seen.  So  long  as  the  Church 
remained  evangelical  in  doctrine,  she  continued  evangelistic  in 
effort.  The  simplicity  of  Gospel  truth  secured  a missionary 
spirit,  and  this  the  missionary  benediction,  so  that  even  the  perse- 
cutions raised  by  the  enemies  of  the  truth  were  made  to  work 
together  for  the  propagation  of  the  truth. 

But  after  a time  the  elements  of  Gentile  philosophy,  and  the 
idolatrous  customs  of  the  heathen  nations  who  partially  em- 
braced Christianity,  were  combined  with  the  Gospel,  and  thus  a 
spurious  system  of  doctrine  and  practice  was  soon  produced  ; so 
that,  instead  of  subduing  heathenism,  the  Church  to  a large  ex- 
tent was  subdued  by  it.  The  true  simplicity  of  the  Gospel  was 
forsaken.  The  ark  of  God  was  therefore  no  longer  with  the  armies 
of  Israel.  Paganized  Christianity  in  the  West  and  Ea.-f  led  to  the 
abandonment  of  Gospel  truth — this,  to  the  loss  of  the  • ! ssionary 
spirit — and  this,  to  the  forfeiture  of  the  missionary  promise  and 
blessing.  The  purity  and  strength  of  the  Church  were  lost  together. 
Subverting  the  Gospel  by  human  corruptions,  Popery  destroyed 
the  vitality  of  the  Church,  and  made  it  an  easy  prey  to  the  arms 
of  the  Moslem. 

It  is  not  unusual  to  hear  the  progress  of  the  Gospel  spoken  of, 
as  a process  that  has  been  steadily,  though  slowly,  advancing 
from  the  apostolic  age  to  the  present  time.  This,  however,  is  a 


10 


great  mistake.  The  Church  has  sometimes  fallen  so  far  back  in 
one  age,  that  ages  have  been  required  to  enable  her  to  regain  her 
former  position.  It  would  be  most  painfully  interesting  to  recall  the 
thousands  of  Churches  that  once  flourished  in  Northern  Africa,  along 
the  southern  shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  in  Egypt,  and  the  coun. 
tries  round  it ; in  Asia  Minor,  Syria,  Mesopotamia,  and  Persia,  to 
the  very  banks  of  the  Indus — in  Central  Asia,  from  the  shores  of 
the  Caspian  to  the  borders  of  China  ; yea,  and  within  it — in  India, 
in  Bactria.  in  Armenia,  and  in  Arabia — so  that  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  about  the  time  when  Mohammedanism  first  appeared 
in  the  East,  the  number  of  nominal  Christians  was  greater  in 
proportion  to  the  whole  population  of  the  then  known  world  than 
it.  was  at  the  commencement  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

The  Reformation  was  scarcely  sufficient  to  arrest  the  retrograde 
movement  that  had  been  commenced  centuries  before,  nor  have 
all  the  efforts  of  modern  missions,  and  the  colonization  of  this 
new  world,  fully  compensated  for  the  ground  previously  lost. 

By  her  original  constitution  the  Church  was  formed  for  con- 
quest, and,  like  every  other  army  when  she  becomes  inactive,  she 
must  become  demoralized.  Active  operations  for  extending  her 
dominion,  instead  of  impairing  her  internal  energies,  are  the  only 
means  of  increasing  her  efficiency.  A pure  church,  properly 
accomplishing  all  local  objects,  and  yet  destitute  of  a missionary 
spirit  that  is  of  an  active,  zealous  and  diffusive  character,  is  a 
contradiction.  No  such  church  ever  long  existed,  and  from  the 
very  nature  of  things,  cannot  possibly  exist.  Internal  spirituality, 
living  piety,  and  sound  doctrine,  cannot  coexist  in  churches,  or 
individuals,  with  the  absence  of  a missionary  spirit.  The  form 
of  godliness  may  be  manifested,  but  the  power  is  wanting.  The 
external  lineaments  of  faith  may  be  assumed,  but  withdraw  the 
mask  and  you  behold  only  a dead  corpse. 

You  see  your  calling,  therefore,  brethren.  Every  Christian  is 
a soldier  enlisted  by  his  own  voluntary  consecration,  with  a 
solemn  oath,  under  the  banners  of  the  great  Captain  of  salva- 
tion,— the  leader  and  commander  of  his  people, — to  fight  man- 
fully and  valiantly  for  the  cause  of  truth  and  righteous- 
ness. 

The  hosts  of  the  mighty  are  still  encamped  against  the  Lord, 


11 


and  His  anointed.  Popery  still  numbers  her  millions.  Moham- 
medanism counts  her  millions,  and  Paganism  her  six  hundred 
and  fifty  millions.  Infidelity  also,  and  a “ world  lying  in  wick- 
edness” in  the  very  midst  of  Christendom,  number  their  millions. 
The  world  is  not  yet  converted.  It  is  far,  very  far  from  being 
converted. 

Why,  then,  is  this  the  case  ? Who  is  to  blame  ? This  melan- 
choly state  of  things  does  not,  we  have  seen,  arise  from  any 
limitation  of  the  Gospel  in  the  love  or  purposes  of  God — in  the 
provision  of  his  covenant — in  the  gift  or  propitiation  of  his  Son — 
in  the  office  and  agency  of  the  Holy  Ghost — or  in  the  commission 
of  his  Church.  These  all  conspire  to  impress  upon  every  member 
of  the  Church  the  certainty  of  the  ultimate  and  universal  triumph 
of  the  Gospel  through  the  agency  of  man,  accompanied  by  the 
omnipotent  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  That  there  is  great  and 
inexcusable  guilt  resting  upon  the  Church,  and  proportionably 
upon  every  individual  member  of  the  Church,  cannot  therefore  be 
denied.  The  obligation  and  the  disobedience  are  both  equally 
plain  and  indisputable. 

Has  man,  then,  in  his  weakness,  defeated  the  purposes  of  God, 
who  is  able  to  do  “ whatsoever  it  pleaseth  him  among  the  armies 
of  heaven  and  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth?”  “God 
forbid.” 

Take  an  illustration  from  a kindred  subject.  All  power  in 
heaven  and  on  earth  was  at  the  disposal  of  Christ,  when,  as  man, 
he  was  “ by  wicked  hands  crucified  and  slain.”  For  the  glory 
of  God’s  grace  that  Redeemer’s  advent,  promised  from  the  be- 
ginning of  the  world,  was  withheld  until  “ the  fulness  of  time 
came.”  And  when  Christ  had  come,  and  “ his  own,”  to  whom  he 
came,  in  inexcusable  guilt  nailed  him  to  the  accursed  tree, 
they  at  one  and  the  same  time  filled  up  the  measure  of 
their  own  iniquity,  and  fulfilled  the  predestined,  though  to 
them  unknown,  purpose  of  God.  Here,  then,  we  find  the 
promised  coming  of  the  Saviour,  though  made  immutably 
certain,  long  hindered  and  delayed  by  man’s  wilful  depravity, 
and  the  Saviour  himself,  by  the  wickedness  of  an  unbelieving 
Church,  actually  put  to  death  in  the  fiesh.  And  here  we 
see  also  how  God  made  even  the  perversity  and  wicked- 


12 


ness  of  man  to  work  together  for  the  ultimate  accomplishment  of 
His  gracious  promise. 

In  like  manner,  the  universal  triumph  of  the  Gospel  has  been 
foretold  in  prophecy,  and  made  certain  by  promise,  provision  and 
command,  from  the  very  beginning.  But  the  Devil,  who  is  called 
the  god  of  this  world,  in  alliance  with  the  evil  heart  of  unbeliev- 
ing and  unholy  men,  has,  by  every  possible  device  and  cunning 
craftiness,  withstood  the  progress  of  the  Gospel. 

In  unison  with  him,  and  under  his  direction,  all  the  power  of 
worldly  influence,  political  ambition,  selfish  patriotism,  covetous- 
ness, penurious  bigotry,  and  open  skepticism  and  infidelity,  have 
leagued  their  powers,  by  argument,  by  wit,  by  raillery,  and  by 
public  opinion,  to  accomplish  the  same  end. 

Even  a more  formidable  obstacle  to  the  inward  power  and  ex- 
ternal progress  of  the  Gospel  has  been  found  in  that  amalgamation 
of  heathen  philosophy  and  superstition  with  some  portions  of 
Gospel  truth,  which  constitutes  the  system  of  Popery.  We  are 
informed,  on  divine  authority,  that  as  early  as  the  days  of  the 
Apostles,  “ the  mystery  of  iniquity”  had  begun  to  work — that, 
ere  very  long,  “ that  wicked  should  be  fully  revealed,”  and  that 
from  the  time  of  his  full  development  “ the  man  of  sin  and  son 
of  perdition”  would,  with  the  co-operation  of  civil  powers, 
“exalt  himself  above  all  that  is  called  God,”  during  the  space  of 
twelve  hundred  years.  During  all  this  time,  whenever  and 
wherever  the  Romish  Church  has  had  power,  the  pure  Gospel  and 
the  missionary  spirit  have  been  the  objects  of  exterminating 
persecution. 

Even  within  the  bosom  of  those  Churches  of  Christ  which  sub- 
stantially hold  the  pure  Gospel,  there  has  been  much  indifference 
and  neglect  of  the  missionary  spirit,  and,  consequently,  but  a 
partial  bestowment  of  the  missionary  benediction  upon  them  and 
their  labors.  Rivalries,  contentions  for  denominational  pre- 
eminence, sectarian  jealousy,  partial  views  of  the  truth,  unbelief 
and  want  of  confidence  in  the  divine  authority,  commission,  and 
promise  of  the  Church,  and,  therefore,  in  the  order  of  the  divine 
blessing,  a greater  reliance  upon  human  wisdom  and  human  sys- 
tems than  upon  the  simplicity  of  Bible  truth  and  Scriptural  policy, 
together  with  a misapprehension  of  the  true  nature  of  the  Chris- 


13 


tian  character  and  of  the  real  obligations  under  which  the  dis- 
ciple of  Jesus  is  brought — these  causes,  terminating  as  they  do 
in  that  supreme  love  of  the  world  which  gives  to  it  and  not  to 
Christ  the  mastery  over  the  time,  talents,  property,  purposes,  and 
habits,  even  of  professing  Christians — these  are  the  sources  of 
that  lukewarmness  and  positive  opposition  which  have  been,  and 
still  are,  manifested  within  the  Church  itself,  to  the  dissemination 
of  the  Gospel. 

A sound  and  orthodox  creed,  a blameless  conduct,  membership 
in  some  Church,  and  a measure  of  support  to  its  institutions  and 
charities,  have  come  to  be  regarded  as  the  elements  of  a perfect 
Christian  character.  It  seems  to  be  almost  forgotten,  or  at  least 
not  practically  remembered,  that  the  greater  number  of  sins  are 
sins  of  omission — that  these  may  prove  a want  of  true  piety  just 
as  certainly  as  sins  of  commission — that  they  are  just  as  much 
the  subject  of  penitential  confession  and  prayer — that  the  negli- 
gent, though  professedly  obedient  son,  the  unprofitable  servant, 
the  lazy,  selfish  holder  of  his  Lord’s  talent,  the  unfruitful,  though 
leaf-bearing  tree — they  that  take  their  ease  in  Zion — they  who 
mind  their  own  things  and  live  unto  themselves — it  is  forgotten, 
we  say,  that  they,  in  short,  who  have  omitted  to  do  what  they 
should  have  done  for  Christ  and  His  cause,  are  the  very  persons 
against  whom  even  now  the  curse  is  uttered;  “because  they 
come  not  up  to  the  help  of  the  Lord,  to  the  help  of  the  Lord 
against  the  mighty,”  and  against  whom,  at  the  day  of  judgment, 
the  awful  sentence  will  be  pronounced,  “ Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it 
not  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these,  ye  did  it  not  unto  me.” 

Christian  faith  rests  on  Christ.  Christian  life  is  derived  from 
union  to  Christ.  This  union  to  Christ  is  the  ground  of  the  be- 
liever’s justification,  sanctification,  and  redemption.  Christ  and 
his  people  are  one.  His  sufferings  and  theirs,  His  cause  and 
theirs,  His  glory  and  theirs,  are  one.  And  as  Christ  became 
united  to  the  whole  human  rac^  as  the  head  and  representative 
of  his  people  in  the  covenant  of  grace,  it  follows  that  every  be- 
liever is  not  only  under  obligation  to  consider  the  glory,  the  honor, 
the  cause  of  Christ  as  his,  but,  from  the  very  nature  of  Christian 
life,  love,  and  experience,  he  cannot  but  judge  that  if  Christ  died 
for  all,  then  all  died  in  him  ; and  that  they  who  live  by  his  life 
should  not  henceforth  live  unto  themselves,  but  unto  him  who  died 


14 


for  them  and  rose  again.  And  as  all  that  is  precious  in  the  Gos- 
pel, in  the  writings  of  the  Apostles,  in  the  promises,  in  the  means 
of  grace,  and  in  the  hopes  of  glory,  are  among  the  gifts  bestowed 
by  Christ  in  the  fulfilment  of  his  ascending  promise,  it  is  still 
more  clearly  evident  that  no  man  has  any  warrant  to  hope  in 
Christ,  or  any  evidence  of  his  life  being  hid  with  Christ  in  God, 
except  as  he  is  found  obedient  to  the  great  end  and  purpose  for 
which  Christ  has  instituted  the  Church,  and  calls  out  of  the  world 
every  believing  member  of  the  Church. 

No  refuge  of  lies,  therefore,  can  be  more  certain  to  betray  the 
hopes  of  its  vain,  deluded  victims  than  the  too  prevalent  idea  that 
Christian  character  and  duty  are  confined  to  those  things  which 
concern  our  own  immediate  interests  as  Christians,  churches,  or 
denominations.  This  would  at  once  transform  the  Christian 
spirit,  which  is  love,  charity,  and  devotion  to  God,  in  gratitude 
for  a soul  redeemed,  regenerated,  and  united  to  Christ,  into  spiri- 
tual selfishness.  “ But  he  that  keepeth  my  commandments  he 
it  is  that  loveth  me,”  and  “ faith  without  works  is  dead.” 

These,  then,  are  the  causes  which  have  led  to  the  partial  pro- 
gress and  power  of  the  Gospel,  both  at  home  and  abroad.  For  it 
was  just  as  much  a part  of  the  divine  purpose  and  promise  that 
the  triumphs  of  the  Gospel  should  be  achieved,  through  causes 
purely  moral,  and  for  the  operation  of  which  human  beings  arc 
accountable,  as  that  it  should  finally  and  assuredly  take  place. 

These  causes  of  the  partial  progress  of  the  Gospel,  it  is  also 
plain,  arise  from  the  guilt  of  God’s  creatures,  voluntarily  incurred, 
in  opposition  to  his  plain  commands,  to  the  original  design  of  the 
Gospel  and  to  the  purposes  of  divine  mercy.  They  are,  in  every 
case,  the  native  activity  of  human  corruption — the  effects  of  the 
free  agency  of  wicked  men,  or  of  the  remaining  wickedness  of 
good  men,  stimulated  by  their  depraved  passions,  and  deceived 
by  the  blinding  influence  of  the  god  of  this  world. 

All  this  evil  God  has  permitted  to  exist  and  to  continue,  just  as 
he  permitted  the  “ filling  up  the  measure  of  their  iniquity”  by 
the  ancient  nations,  and  the  crucifixion  of  our  Lord.  He  even 
foretold  the  existence  and  continuance  of  these  causes  of  the  slow 
progress  in  the  Gospel — the  consequent  waxing  cold  of  the  love 
of  his  true  disciples — the  prevalence  of  error — and  tho  partial 
triumph  and  overthrow  of  tho  Gospel,  “ until  the  time  appointed 


15 


by  the  Father  should  come.”  God’s  promise  has  not  therefore 
failed,  nor  is  the  Lord  “slack  concerning  his  promise.”  The 
same  sovereign  wisdom  has  been  at  work  on  God’s  part  during 
all  this  time,  in  which  scoffers  ask  with  unbelieving  profanity 
“ where  is  the  promise  of  his  coming,”  as  during  the  period 
before  the  coming  of  the  Saviour.  God  iias  not  forgotten  either 
his  promise  or  his  purpose.  They  are  as  infallible  as  His  own 
nature,  as  immutable  as  His  own  throne,  and  as  certain  as  His 
own  omnipotence. 

The  guilt  of  the  heathen — of  the  world — of  Satan — of  the 
man  of  sin — and  of  an  unfaithful  and  unbelieving^Church,  God 
has  permitted,  and  will  surely  punish,  as  he  has  in  part  done. 
And  all  these  hindrances  to  the  progress  of  the  Gospel,  as  in  the 
preparation  for  the  introduction  of  the  Gospel,  God  will  make  to 
work  together  for  the  greater  glory  of  His  own  great  name,  when 
the  fulness  of  time  has  come,  and  the  Church  shall  “ arise  and 
shine,  the  glory  of  the  Lord  being  arisen  upon  her.”  God’s 
purposes  can  only  be  a rule  for  our  conduct  so  far  as  He  has  been 
pleased  to  reveal  them  as  directions  for  our  conduct.  In  this 
case,  they  constitute  a warrant  and  an  encouragement.  But  where 
God’s  purpose  is  only  revealed  prophetically,  so  as  to  exhibit  a 
fixed  and  certain  result,  without  disclosing  to  us  the  definite 
period  when  it  shall  be  realized,  and  the  special  means  by  which 
it  shall  be  brought  about,  then,  the  command  of  God,  and  not 
His  ultimate  purpose , is  the  rule  of  our  present  duty.  God  may 
have  many  purposes  to  accomplish  before  fulfilling  that  to  which 
these  all  conspire,  as  in  the  case  before  us.  The  rule  of  our  con- 
duct and  that  of  the  divine  procedure,  are  essentially  different. 

The  Gospel  is,  therefore,  universally  to  triumph,  and  that 
through  the  instrumentality  of  the  Church.  In  this  faith  and 
hope,  the  Church  is  to  labor  and  pray — to  spend  and  be  spent. 
In  so  doing,  and  only  in  so  doing,  she  preserves,  perpetuates,  and 
enlarges  herself — secures  her  purity  and  power,  and  the  promised 
blessing — and  escapes  the  righteous  judgment  of  God.  Such 
obedience  will  be  always  acceptable,  and  always  effectual  to 
great  and  glorious  results.  But  how  far  they  will  advance  the 
ultimate  triumph  of  Christ’s  kingdom,  and  the  final  overthrow 
of  Satan’s  power,  must  be  left  to  God’s  infinite  wisdom  in  con- 
summating His  own  divine  plan.  The  nature  of  our  duty  is  plain 


16 


and  positive.  The  time  of  our  duty  is  always  present.  The 
measure  of  our  obedience  is  the  utmost  that  our  ability  and 
opportunity  will  allow.  The  success  and  the  recompense  of  our 
self-sacrifice  will  always  be  proportionate  ; and  when  God  with- 
holds the  former,  He  will  multiply  the  latter.  Everything, 
however,  seems  to  show  that  the  night  of  toilsome  expectation  is 
drawing  to  a close,  and  that  the  dawn  of  the  promised  day  is 
breaking  upon  the  marshalled  forces  of  Satan  and  of  Christ. 
Did  time  permit,  it  were  easy  to  show  that  many  things  in  the 
condition  of  heathen  and  of  anti-Christian  lands,  betoken  the 
working  of  superhuman  agency  in  preparing  the  way,  and  over- 
ruling every  event  for  the  subjugation  of  all  Christ’s  enemies — 
the  display  of  His  power  in  consuming  them  by  the  spirit  of  His 
mouth,  and  the  brightness  of  His  coming — and  in  communicating 
the  blessing  of  salvation  to  the  whole  race  of  Adam. 

Let  us  then  again  fix  your  attention  upon  the  object  of  the 
Foreign  Missionary  work.  As  it  regards  God  in  Christ,  the 
object  of  Foreign  Missions  is  the  discharge  of  our  duty  by 
preaching  the  Gospel  to  every  creature  in  all  the  world — by  dis- 
cipling  them  and  instructing  them  in  all  things  whatsoever 
Christ  has  commanded — by  the  manifestation  of  an  implicit  and 
filial  obedience  to  His  commands — by  our  prayerful  zeal  and 
devotion  to  His  cause  and  glory  as  our  own — and  by  contributing, 
as  far  as  it  may  please  Him  to  make  use  of  our  services  and 
sacrifices,  to  the  consummation  of  the  promised  glory  of  the 
Church,  and  the  universal  establishment  of  the  kingdom  of 
Christ. 

As  it  regards  mankind,  the  object  of  Foreign  Missions  is  to 
proclaim  to  them  the  knowledge  of  the  only  true  God — Father, 
Son,  and  Holy  Ghost — and  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  only  name  under 
heaven  by  which  they  can  be  saved. 

There  are,  we  have  said,  about  756,000,000  of  human  beings 
beyond  the  Christian  pale,  and  to  a great  extent,  beyond  the 
possible  knowledge  of  salvation. 

These  arc  every  one  of  them  our  fellow-beings,  our  neighbors, 
whom  we  are  bound  to  love  even  as  ourselves  ; our  brethren,  of 
whose  spiritual  interest  we  are  keepers  ; our  creditors,  to  whom 
we  are  debtors,  having  been  put  in  trust  with  the  Gospel  for 
them. 


17 


They  arc  our  fellow-sufferers.  Besides  all  the  sorrows  and 
afflictions  common  to  our  apostate  and  accursed  humanity,  they 
are  subjected  to  sufferings  peculiar  to  themselves.  They  are 
sunk  in  temporal  wretchedness — the  victims  of  rapine,  violence, 
and  murder,  afflicted,  afflicting,  and  destroying  one  another. 
Their  spirit  is  that  of  fear.  Their  anticipations  arc  those  of 
terror,  and  they  live  in  habitations  of  horrid  cruelty.  All  this, 
and  moro  than  this,  they  live  to  endure,  without  anything  to 
alleviate  their  distresses,  sweeten  the  bitter  draught,  soften  their 
hard  and  thorny  couch,  calm  their  fears,  or  draw  out  the  sting  of 
death. 

These  millions  are  our  fellow-sinners.  With  us  they  sinned. 
With  us  they  are  condemned.  So  that  G-od  hath  concluded  all 
under  sin,  and  the  whole  world  is  guilty  before  Him.  Of  this 
sin  they  are  conscious.  The  writings  of  the  heathen  are  full  of 
the  confessions  of  sin,  and  the  conscience  of  every  pagan  both 
accuses  and  condemns  him  as  guilty  of  sin,  and  deserving  of, 
and  exposed  to,  punishment.  Hence  the  secret  dread  of  divine 
vengeance.  Hence  the  various  methods  by  which  they  attempt 
to  propitiate  the  Deity. 

The  language  of  the  heathen  poet,  Anacreon,  in  bemoaning 
his  own  approaching  death,  is  not  too  strong  as  a general  expres- 
sion of  heathen  gloom  : — 

**  Henceforth  unhappy  1 doomed  to  know 
Tormenting  fears  of  future  woe ! 

Oh,  how  my  soul  with  horror  shrinks 
Whene’er  my  startled  fancy  thinks 
Of  Pluto’s  dark  and  dreary  cave, 

The  chill,  the  cheerless,  gaping  gravel” 

The  heathen,  however,  are  not  merely  sinners.  Their  sins  are 
of  the  deepest  dye.  The  Word  of  God  everywhere  reprobates 
idolatry  as  “ the  abominable  thing  which  God  hates.”  It  is 
apostasy  from  God.  It  is  rebellion  against  God.  It  is  the  abjura- 
tion of  allegiance  to  God.  It  is  the  dethronement  of  the  only  living 
and  true  God,  and  the  setting  up  of  an  impious  rival.  It  destroys 
the  soul  of  all  duty,  which  is  obedience  to  the  divine  command. 
It  is  based  upon  aversion  to  God,  and  dislike  to  the  purity  and 
spirituality  of  his  character.  It  dishonors  God  by  all  its  foul 
representations,  its  silly  images,  its  contemptible  ceremonies,  and 
2 


18 


its  impious  claims.  Idolatry  also  ruins  man  as  a rational  and 
moral  agent — the  accountable  subject  of  God.  It  prohibits  rea- 
son, entangles  intellect,  pollutes  the  heart,  silences  or  perverts 
conscience,  taints  every  apparent  virtue,  stimulates  the  passions, 
deadens  sensibility,  excludes  light,  consecrates  vice,  deifies  sin, 
exalts  some  fellow-men  into  the  tyranny  of  fictitious  godhead,  and 
tramples  upon  others  as  the  dust  and  filth  of  the  earth.  Idolatry, 
therefore,  is  condemned,  both  in  the  first  and  second  command- 
ments— in  the  Old  and  New  Testament — and  it  has  been  followed 
by  the  most  signal  and  fearful  inflictions  of  divine  wrath.* 

Nor  does  this  criminality  attach  to  idolatry  merely  in  its  ori- 
ginal form.  The  present  generation  of  the  heathen  are  without 
excuse.  They  voluntarily  approve  and  adopt  the  iniquity  of 
their  fathers.  They  are  willingly  ignorant.  Their  own  sacred 
books — their  knowledge  of  right  and  wrong — their  laws  and 
penalties — their  mutual  judgments  of  each  other’s  character  and 
conduct — their  self-accusings  for  wrong  done  and  for  good  un- 
done— their  sense  of  sin — their  voluntary  sacrifices,  fasts  and 
penances — their  dread  of  God,  of  death,  and  of  future  misery — 
these  are  awful  proofs  that  the  heathen  are  wilfully  sinners, 
without  excuse,  and  self-condemned. 

God,  then,  is  not  unrighteous  in  having  left  them  to  their  self- 
chosen  iniquities,  in  denouncing  wrath  against  them,  and  in 
taking  vengeance  upon  them.  They  are  sinners  judged  by  their 
own  knowledge  of  duty,  and  their  own  voluntary  admission  of 
evil.  They  are  guilty  before  God.  They  have  “ no  hope,  and  are 
without  God  in  the  world.”  They  are  lost.  They  are  “ con- 
demned already,”  and  the  angel  of  destruction  stands  ready  to 
“ pour  out  the  fury  of  God  upon  the  heathen.” 

Now  the  Gospel,  as  we  have  seen,  is  the  proclamation  of  a 
deliverance  from  nothing  less  than  an  eternity  of  misery  ; the  pos- 
session of  nothing  less  than  an  eternity  of  bliss  ; and  of  this  sal- 
vation the  Apostle  in  our  text  teaches  that  all  men,  Jew  and  Gen- 
tile, have  equal  need,  and  that  of  it  all  should  have  an  equal  offer. 

* Jiulg.  ii.  11,  12,  13, 14.  Judg.  iii.  7,  8 ; x.  6,  7,  13, 14.  II.  Kings  xvii.  7,  8-18. 
Ps.  cvi.  28-29.  Ex.  xxxii.  26,  27,  28.  The  fate  of  Solomon,  I.  Kings  xxi.  1,  9,  11,  33 — 
nf  Jeroboam,  I.  Kings  xxii.  28  and  14  : 2-17 — of  Baaslta,  I.  Kings  xxvi.  3-12 — of 
Altai).  I.  Kings  xxvi.  30  and  21 : 21  and  22  : 34,  38 — and  II.  Kings  xx.  11 — of  Ahaziali. 
II.  Kings  i.  1,2,  3, 4, 17 — of  Jehoram,  II.  Citron,  xxi.  11, 14, 19 — of  Manasseh,  II.  Kings 
xxi.  3,  4,  5,  G ; II.  Citron,  xxxiii.  2-15— of  Amaziah,  II.  Citron,  xxv.  14-20,  23,  & c. 


19 


For  when  this  salvation  is  not  presented,  no  salvation  can  be  had, 
since,  as  the  Apostle  argues,  faith  is  the  condition  of  acceptance, 
and  “ faith  coincth  by  hearing.”  It  may  be  said  that  God  can 
and  may  save  the  heathen  without  the  Gospel.  This,  however, 
is  an  assertion  which  only  bold  impiety  can  make,  and  which  only 
God  himself  could  answer.  Our  business,  most  assuredly,  is  not 
with  what  God  can  do,  but,  with  what  he  has  done,  with  what 
he  has  said  he  will  do,  and  with  what  God  requires  ns  to  do. 

This  much  we  do  know.  The  heathen  in  the  Apostles’  days 
stood  in  no  greater  need  of  the  Gospel  than  they  do  in  our  own 
day.  If,  then,  they  were  declared  to  be  perishing  without  the 
Gospel,  and  if,  by  positive  divine  command,  that  Gospel  was  sent 
to  them,  then,  in  God’s  judgment,  they  could  not  be  saved  with- 
out it.  Tho  permanency  of  God’s  command  proves  also,  that 
according  to  God’s  plan  of  administration,  the  heathen  can  at  no 
time  be  saved  without  the  Gospel ; and  so  it  was  understood  by 
the  Apostles,  by  tho  apostolic  and  primitive  churches,  by  every 
pure  body  of  Christ’s  people  from  that  period  until  the  Reforma- 
tion, and  by  every  one  of  the  reformed  churches,  Anglican,  Lu- 
theran, and  Evangelical,  who  have  embodied  this  truth  as  a fun- 
damental doctrine  in  their  confessions.* 

That  the  heathen  may  be  saved  without  the  Gospel  is,  there- 
fore, a deistical,  infidel  tenet.  For,  if  the  heathen  in  America  or 
in  Africa  do  not  need  the  Gospel  in  order  to  salvation,  neither  do 
any  heathen  need  it.  But,  if  the  heathen  do  not  need  the  Gospel 
in  order  to  salvation  noiv,  they  did  not  need  it  at  any  other  period 
of  the  world,  and  the  Gospel  is  not  necessary  to  the  salvation  of 
any  man.  It  is  a lie. 

But  supposing  God  could  save  the  heathen  without  the  Gospel 
— the  sending  of  the  Gospel  to  the  heathen  is  made  the  test  of 
our  obedience,  and  the  ground  either  of  our  approval  and 
blessing,  or  of  our  condemnation  and  guilt.  Even,  therefore,  on 
this  supposition,  prudence  and  a regard  to  our  own  present  and 
everlasting  good,  should  actuate  every  man,  whether  believer  or 
unbeliever,  to  avoid  the  awful  responsibility  of  seeming  to  be 
wiser  than  God,  and  of  actually  being  disobedient  to  the  require- 
ments of  God.  And  especially  inexcusable  will  the  unbeliever 
be  found,  when  the  sympathies  of  our  common  nature  impel  us 


See  Note  at  the  end. 


20 


to  feel  for  the  temporal  condition  ancl  misery  of  the  heathen  ; and 
reason  must  redden  at  the  sight  of  a human  being,  dead  to  all 
the  interests  of  the  great  family  of  immortals,  to  which  he  be- 
longs. Even  a heathen  poet  could  call  forth  rapturous  applause 
from  a heathen  audience  by  the  declaration  in  words, 

“ Homo  sum  et  nil  lmmani  a me  alienum  put-o.” 

“I  am  a man,  and  I regard  nothing  pertaining  to  the  happiness  of 
man  as  foreign  to  me.” 

This  condition  of  the  heathen,  however,  as  lost,  guilty  and  con- 
demned, is  not,  let  it  be  remembered,  the  consequence  of  the  Gos- 
pel, nor  of  their  want  of  the  Gospel.  To  be  in  this  condition  is 
not  peculiar  to  the  heathen.  The  Scriptures  teach  us  that  since 
the  fall  of  Adam,  all  human  beings,  whether  born  in  a heathen 
or  a Christian  country,  are  sinners,  and  equally  in  a perishing 
state.  The  only  natural  difference  between  man  born  in  a Chris- 
tian and  man  born  in  a heathen  country  is,  that  the  one  class 
having  the  Gospel,  are  in  possession  of  the  means  which  God  has 
graciously  provided  for  the  salvation  of  lost  and  guilty  men ; 
while  the  heathen,  being  without  the  Gospel,  have  not  the  means 
of  salvation,  and  are  therefore  “ perishing  for  lack  of  know- 
ledge.” 

But  for  this  condition  of  the  heathen,  who  is  to  blame  ? Most 
assuredly,  as  we  have  seen,  it  is  not  God,  who  “so  loved  the 
world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  be- 
lievethon  Him,  should  be  saved.”  Most  assuredly  not  God,  who 
has  commanded  His  Church  and  people  to  go  into  all  the  world 
and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature,  promising  to  be  with 
them  always  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world.  And  this  promise 
God  has  always  and  in  every  case  fulfilled,  so  that  had  the  Church 
continued  until  now  to  obey  this  command,  as  actively  and  as 
firmly  as  she  did  in  the  two  first  centuries,  there  would  not  at 
this  time  have  been  a single  nation  sitting  in  the  region  and 
shadow  of  death.  As  well,  therefore,  might  God  be  charged 
with  the  destruction  of  His  creatures,  and  with  unmerciful  auste- 
rity, because  he  does  not  depart  from  the  economy  of  nature,  in 
order  to  preserve  men  from  dying  when  the  remedy  appointed 
by  Him  has  been  criminally  neglected  or  withheld,  as  when  he 
does  not  depart  from  the  order  established  by  Him,  as  the  God  of 


21 


grace,  in  order  to  save  the  heathen  without  the  Gospel,  when  that 
Gospel  has  been  sinfully  neglected  and  withheld  by  those  who 
were  put  in  trust  with  it,  and  by  many  of  the  heathen  them- 
selves. 

On  the  Church  of  Christ, — on  the  ministers, — on  the  elders, 
deacons,  and  members  of  our  churches, — on  every  Christian  in- 
dividually,— lies  tho  dishonor,  the  disgrace,  and  the  guilt  of 
abandoning  the  heathen  to  their  fate.  What  more  could  God 
have  done  than  he  has  done  ? To  us — to  us — and  not  to  God,  is 
imputable  that  compromise  of  human  safety,  that  dereliction  of 
the  duty  which  we  owe  to  ourselves,  to  the  heathen,  and  to  God, 
whose  culpability  no  language  is  too  strong  to  express  and  to 
condemn. 

God  by  His  Word  depicts  the  heathen  as  perishing  in  their  sins. 
God  calls  with  authoritative,  beseeching,  earnestness — hasten — 
go — send  the  Gospel  to  these  heathen  nations — to  all  of  them, 
overlooking  none — seeing  that  they  are  dying,  “ and  he  alone  that 
believeth  shall  be  saved,  while  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be 
damned.” 

The  Gospel  is  the  only  cure  for  moral  maladies,  the  only  spe- 
cific against  eternal  death.  Enjoying,  then,  as  we  do,  this  spi- 
ritual panacea — participating,  as  we  are  permitted  to  do,  in  its 
life-giving  power — and  impressively  charged,  as  we  are,  to  convey 
it  to  dying  millions — how  great  is  our  inhumanity  and  cruelty  to 
them,  and  how  gross  our  ingratitude,  dishonesty  and  disobedience 
towards  God,  in  withholding  this  “ unspeakable  gift !” 

To  the  ear  of  Christian  humanity,  the  cry  for  help  comes  to 
us  on  the  wings  of  every  wind.  It  may  be  heard  in  the  sighing 
of  the  solitary  forest — in  the  night-wind’s  melancholy  moan — in 
the  murmuring  of  delirious  grief,  carried  by  every  sea  to  every 
shore.  It  is  the  cry  of  our  fellow-mortals,  sinking  under  the 
weight  of  human  sorrows,  tormented  by  inward  pain,  distracted 
by  fear,  without  hope  in  this  world,  and  who  have  nothing  for 
the  world  to  come  but  “ a fearful  looking  for  of  judgment  and 
fiery  indignation.” 

There  is,  blessed  be  God,  both  help  and  hope  ; “for,”  says  God 
in  our  text,  “ whosoever  shall  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord 
shall  be  saved.”  But  how  shall  they  call  on  him  in  whom  they 
have  not  believed  ? and  how  shall  they  believe  in  him  of  whom 


22 


they  have  not  heard  ? and  how  shall  they  hear  without  a preacher  ? 
and  how  shall  they  preach  except  they  be  sent  ? 

The  effect,  it  will  be  observed,  is  here  attributed  by  the  apos- 
tle altogether  to  the  instrumentality  of  man,  and  that,  too,  in  an 
age  of  miracles.  How  plain,  then,  is  it,  that  while  all  the  power 
comes  from  God  alone,  that,  nevertheless,  he  imparts  that  power 
only  in  and  through  the  appointed  means.  And  how  true,  there- 
fore, is  it  that  the  piety  which  would  excuse  itself  from  a dili- 
gent, self-denying  and  liberal  employment  of  those  means,  under 
the  pretext  that  God  alone  can  convert  the  heathen,  is  a piety 
“of  our  own  forging,”  and  in  utter  contrariety  to  the  piety  of 
God,  of  the  Bible,  and  of  Paul. 

My  brethren,  my  brethren,  oh ! let  us  remember  that  the 
knowledge  of  our  duty,  and  the  excitement  of  our  affections  to 
discharge  that  duty  more  perseveringly  and  perfectly  than  we 
have  done,  can  lead  to  the  formation  of  a principle  of  duty  and 
of  active  habits  of  duty,  no  otherwise  than  by  inducing  us  to  a 
course  of  prompt,  prayerful,  self-denying,  liberal  and  laborious 
effort. 

Forget  not,  then,  my  brethren,  that  you  are  responsible  for  not 
feeling  and  for  not  acting  when  the  objects  proper  to  awaken 
feeling,  and  the  motives  to  a correspondent  course  of  action  are 
present.  Heecllessness , impenitence , unbelief , ungodliness , diso- 
bedience, insensibility,  inhumanity,  are  sins  of  just  as  deep  a dye 
as  positive  iniquity.  If  you  withdraw  attention  from  the  truth, 
consideration  from  the  heathen,  and  a reverential  obedience  from 
Christ’s  commands,  and  thus  keep  that  door  of  the  heart  shut 
through  which  “ suffering  from  without  finds  its  way  to  sympa- 
thy within,”  and  authority  compels  obedience,  you  will  be  held 
accountable  for  all  that  unfaithfulness  and  imbecility  which  are 
the  result  of  your  own  voluntary  and  guilty  indifference. 

And  that  God  may  thus  work  in  each  one  of  us  to  will  and  to  do 
according  to  his  good  pleasure  towards  the  heathen,  let  it  be  our 
present,  fervent  and  continued  prayer : “ God  be  merciful  unto 
us  and  bless  us,  and  cause  his  face  to  shine  upon  us,  that  his 
way  may  be  known  upon  the  earth . his  saving  health  among  all 
nations .” 


NOTE, 


Confession  of  Faith  of  the  Church  of  Scotland. 

Chap.  I.,  sec.  1.  “ Although  the  light  of  nature,  and  the 

works  of  Creation  and  Frovidence,  do  so  far  manifest  the  good- 
ness, wisdom,  and  power  of  God,  as  to  leave  men  incxcuseable, 
yet  they  are  not  sufficient  to  give  that  knowledge  of  God.  and  of 
His  will,  which  is  necessary  unto  Salvation.” 

Chap.  X.,  concluding  part  of  sect.  4.  “ They  who  never 

truly  come  to  Christ  cannot  be  saved  ; much  less  can  men,  not 
professing  the  Christian  Religion,  be  saved  in  any  other  way 
whatsoever,  be  they  ever  so  diligent  to  frame  their  lives  according 
to  the  light  of  nature,  and  the  law  of  that  religion  they  do  pro- 
fess ; and  to  assert  and  maintain  that  they  may,  is  very  perni- 
cious, and  to  be  detested.” 

Larger  Catechism  authorized  by  the  Church  of  Scotland. 

Quest.  60.  “ Can  they  who  never  heard  the  Gospel,  and  so 

know  not  Jesus  Christ,  nor  believe  in  him,  be  saved  by  their  liv- 
ing according  to  the  light  of  nature?” 

Ans.  “ They  who  having  never  heard  the  Gospel,  know  not 
Jesus  Christ,  and  believe  not  in  him,  cannot  be  saved,  be  they 
ever  so  diligent  to  frame  their  lives  according  to  the  light  of 
nature,  or  the  laws  of  that  religion  they  profess ; there  being  no 
Salvation  in  any  other  but  in  Christ  alone.” 

Thirty-nine  Articles  of  the  Church  of  England. 

Article  XVIII.  The  title  of  which  is,  “ Of  obtaining  Eternal 
Salvation  only  by  the  Name  of  Christ.” 

“ They  also  are  to  be  had  accursed,  that  presume  to  say  that 
every  man  shall  be  saved  by  the  law  or  sect  which  he  professeth, 
so  that  he  be  diligent  to  frame  his  life  according  to  that  law,  and 


24 


the  light  of  nature  ; for  Holy  Scripture  doth  set  out  unto  us  only 
the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  whereby  men  must  be  saved.” 

The  Bohemian  Confession  of  Faith,  presented  to  the  King  of 
the  Homans  and  Bohemia,  &c.  Anno  1535.  Art.  VIII.  De 
Ecclesia  sancta. 

See  Helvetian  Confession  of  Faith,  Chap.  XVII.  and  XVIII. 

See  Confession  of  Faith  of  the  French  Protestant  Churches. 
Art.  XXV.  and  XXVII. 

See  Belgic  Confession  of  Faith,  Art.  XXXII.  and  XXVIII. 

See  Augsburg  Confession  of  Faith,  Art.  V. 

See  Saxon  Confession  of  Faith,  presented  to  the  Council  of 
Trent.  Anno  1551.  Art.  De  Ecclesia. 

See  Confession  of  Faith  agreed  upon  by  the  Ministers  of  New 
England.  Anno  1680. 

Also,  Confession  of  Geneva,  of  Poland,  of  the  Walloon  and 
Palatine  Churches. 

The  sentiments  of  these  Churches  upon  the  subject  under 
consideration,  will  be  found  to  be  in  unison  with  those  contained 
in  the  quotations  which  have  been  made  from  the  Confession  of 
Faith  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  and  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  of 
the  Church  of  England. 


s 


